


Before Summer Ends

by Imori_Hikaru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bucket List, F/M, Fluff, HQ Rarepair Bang 2020, M/M, Summer Romance, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imori_Hikaru/pseuds/Imori_Hikaru
Summary: Asahi could tell that Sugawara’s heart broke the day Daichi asked Michimiya out, maybe that’s why he agreed to go along with his crazy summer bucket list idea. Sugawara wanted to make the most of the time they had left. Summer would come to an end, they're return to school, and all too soon they would graduate and go their separate ways. Sure, they'd still be friends, but Suga wasn't staying in Miyagi for university, Asahi was going straight to work, and who knew what Daichi was doing at this point. This was it. And even if it can’t be the three of them, Sugawara was happy to have Asahi by his side making the final summer memories of their high school days.From eating watermelon and watching the sunset to swimming in the ocean and sleeping under the stars, Sugawara wants to do it all. Sure, Asahi and Sugawara have done plenty similar things together before, but it was never just the two of them. Maybe they’ll begin to see one another in a different light as their summer together progresses.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Sugawara Koushi, Michimiya Yui/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 22
Kudos: 46
Collections: HQ Rarepair Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

"Asahi," Suga approached his friend's desk, a light bounce in his step. "What are your plans for summer break?" Asahi watched Sugawara as he sat backwards in the chair in front of his desk, grinning brightly. 

"Uh, I don’t really have any plans. Practice, I guess?" He spoke slowly, watching the glimmer in Suga's eyes, an odd feeling twisting in his gut. 

"Great," Suga clapped his hands together, his smile somehow getting even brighter. Asahi swallowed, concern building. "This is our last summer, and we're going to make the most of it." 

"We are?" Asahi's brows furrowed, uncertain what Suga was getting at. 

"Mhm," Suga leaned towards Asahi, hands clasped on the back of the chair he was sitting in. "I've got a summer apocalist." 

"A what?" He'd completely lost Asahi. Suga sighed, leaning back so he was resting against the desk behind him. 

"An apocalist, it's basically a bucket list." 

"Then why not just call it a bucket list?" 

"Because ‘apocalist’ is much more fun," Suga waved him off, "but that's not the point. The point is that you're going to help me complete it." Asahi blinked. 

"I am?" He was aware he sounded like an idiot right now, but sometimes he just couldn't keep up with Sugawara. Now was one of those times. 

"Uh-huh," Suga nodded vigorously. "You just said you didn't have plans, well, now you do." 

It was on the tip of Asahi's tongue, what about Daichi? What about him? He'd broken Suga's heart, that's what. Sure, Sugawara never confessed to Daichi, but it was obvious that he had been head over heels for him since their first-year. Either Daichi was that oblivious, or he chose to ignore it. Asahi decided it didn’t really matter which it was. Asahi could never forget the look on Suga's face the day Daichi told them he'd finally confessed to Michimiya out. Sugawara had smiled and congratulated Daichi on finally confessing his feelings, but that smile was far from reaching his eyes. Asahi could physically see Sugawara's heart breaking. 

Taking Asahi's silence for acceptance, Sugawara jumped up, tapping Asahi's desk before sauntering out of the classroom, presumably to return to his own. Asahi wasn't sure what to think. He'd been intending to spend the summer lounging around the house, just like any other summer before now. He supposed that maybe this was a good thing, for both of them really. He'd get out of the house and actually do something for once, and Suga wouldn't be dwelling on his wounded heart. But what did Sugawara have in mind exactly? 

***************************************************************************** 

Asahi stared at his phone, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon and he was just waking up. He had two texts from Sugawara telling him what time and place to meet him in a few hours. Was Suga really serious about this apocalist thing? Apparently, he was, and he wants to get started tonight. Groaning, Asahi rolled over, covering the back of his head with a pillow. Was it wrong that he felt like Daichi should be part of their final summer? It wasn't like they were on bad terms with him. He just had a girlfriend now, that's all. _And he hurt Suga_. Another groan escaped him, and he tossed the pillow aside, dragging himself out of bed and into the shower. 

After a long, contemplative shower, Asahi had shrugged on a pair of jeans and his white Karasuno t-shirt. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't stressed himself out a bit about what they were doing and what the appropriate attire was. He eventually reassured himself that if it mattered Sugawara would have said something. He hoped anyway. 

"Item number one, go to an arcade." Asahi jumped, whirling around to face Suga who'd appeared behind him. 

"That's it? We're not jumping off a building or anything?" Asahi asked, only half joking. Sugawara laughed, it was a gentle, calming sound. Asahi found himself wishing he heard it more. It'd been a while since Suga had been his usual, cheerful self. 

"Nope, not yet anyway," Suga grinned at Asahi, hands clasped behind his back. He was kind of surprised that Asahi hadn't fought him on the idea of the summer apocalist. He was glad he didn't. Sugawara wanted to make the most of the time they had left. Summer would come to an end, they'd return to school, and all too soon they would graduate and go their separate ways. Sure, they'd still be friends, but Suga wasn't staying in Miyagi for university, Asahi was going straight to work, and who knew what Daichi was doing at this point. This was it. And even if it can’t be the three of them, Sugawara was happy to have Asahi by his side making the final summer memories of their high school days. 

"So, what exactly is on this list?" Asahi questioned, the two starting in the direction of the arcade. Suga's bell-like laughter filled the air between them. 

"It's a secret," he winked at Asahi before picking up his pace. "You'll figure it out as we mark everything off." 

"That's not fair, Suga," he was whining, but he was scared at what the little spitfire had in mind. He was also immensely curious. What would Suga have to gain from keeping the list a secret? Although, depending on the contents, maybe it was better he didn’t know. 

"No," Suga groaned, slumping in defeat, for the third time in a row. "You're _so_ cheating!" He was giggling, which made Asahi laugh as well. Honestly, Asahi wasn't very good at this game either, but Suga was just that bad at it. "Want to grab some food?" Sugawara jerked his head towards the concession counter within the arcade. Asahi's nose scrunched slightly. This place was notorious for its hit or miss pizza. You either got cardboard masquerading as pizza or you got a gooey, greasy mess of goodness. 

"Is that part of the list?" Suga snorted softly. 

"No, I'm just hungry." He offered Asahi a little shrug. 

"Hungry enough to risk it?" Another shrug. 

"Unless you have a better idea?" Asahi took a second to think about it before returning the shrug. Suga nodded and started for the counter while Asahi went to find a table that wasn't super sticky or occupied by the other teens and younger kids in the building. 

He lucked out and found one with minimal crumbs and only one sticky spot by the corner. Sliding in, he looked over at the counter where Suga was laughing at something the guy ringing him up had said. An unusual feeling settled over Asahi and he pulled his eyes away from Suga and down to his phone. 

There wasn't anything particularly interesting to look at on it, but he wasn't crazy about whatever that reaction to seeing Suga laughing with that random guy was. He wasn't even sure what to call that feeling. It was best to ignore it. 

Mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, Asahi lingered on a post from Michimiya. Daichi was smiling softly, presumably at her on the other side of the camera. They were at some sort of cafe it seemed. 

"Place your bet." A pizza box plunked down on the table, Suga shimmying into the booth opposite Asahi. 

"Huh?" He said intelligently, Sugawara's lips ticked up on one side. 

"Cardboard or perfection?" 

"Cardboard." The response was instant. As much as he hoped for the opposite, he wasn't going to get his hope up. He'd eat it either way, he wasn't particularly picky about food. They opened the box the smell of the pizza wafted over them and Suga grinned. 

"We may have gotten lucky." He picked up the floppy slice and bit into it. He groaned and leaned back in the booth. A stretchy string of cheese pulling between his mouth and the slice. Asahi took that as a good sign and snagged his own slice and bit into the greasy morsel. They definitely did. 

"Now that you're full of pizza," Suga started 

Asahi’s guard immediately flew up, he knew that look in Sugawara’s eyes, and it never meant anything good for Asahi. “We have a date with DDR.” Sugawara wiggled out of the booth and gathered their garbage. Asahi dropped his head back; he wasn’t a good dancer and he certainly wasn’t a good dancer after consuming half of a grease-soaked pizza. “Ready to get owned?” 

“Is this payback for me beating you in that shooter?” Asahi asked as he reluctantly got up. Sugawara shot him a lazy glare. 

“And what if it is?” Asahi laughed as they navigated the dark arcade. 

“I could have let you win.” 

“Don’t you dare.” Suga pouted adorably. 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that if you’re making me do Dance Dance Revolution. I’m disastrously uncoordinated.” 

“You can’t be that bad,” Sugawara offered skeptically, Asahi was a good athlete, surely he had some sort of coordination. If he didn’t, how the hell could he play volleyball as well as he does? 

Suga was wrong, Asahi was terrible, but it was hilarious to watch. Sugawara moved easily, his feet flying over the dance pad racking up an impressive streak while Asahi was struggling to just stay on beat. He lacked a sense of rhythm; it was bad enough to be impressive. 

Sugawara laughed; he was glad that Asahi was at least trying. He knew plenty of people who would just give up at this point, but Asahi kept trying. He was getting better... maybe. Asahi looked a bit panicked as he watched the arrows on the screen, missing a few steps and barely getting the next. He shot a look in Sugawara’s direction. His own expression eased, and he started laughing. He was impressed that Suga could move that well in those tight jeans. 

“What are you laughing at?” Suga asked breathlessly. 

“Nothing in particular,” Asahi smiled softly, turning his attention back to the screen. His arm managed to bump against Sugawara’s and that odd feeling from earlier fluttered through his stomach again. He tried to ignore it as Sugawara absolutely trashed him, three consecutive times. 

By the time they left the arcade they were gross and sweaty, and Asahi was giving Suga shit for making him work out on their day off. A few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution were nothing compared to their usual workout, but his plans had been to sleep all day and do nothing. He had to admit, this was much more fun. 

_~~Go to an Arcade~~ _

  
************************************************************************************* 

Coming into camp, Asahi was nervous about the tension between him and Daichi. He was pretty sure that no one else seemed to notice that anything was off though. Let’s face it, all of Karasuno was a mess right now. Everyone was trying something new and they just weren’t syncing up. It helped to mask the fact that Asahi and Daichi were at their own odds, not that Asahi really understood what he’d done to piss Daichi off so badly. It was day two, and Asahi still hadn’t found a good opening to talk to Daichi. It was driving him crazy. 

“Hey, guys!” Miyanoshita called out, putting a pause on the practice within the gym. “The Shinzen parents brought some watermelon!” The guys lit up at the sound of this, everyone filing out to the hill just outside the gym. 

Asahi saw Sugawara sitting with Yaku from Nekoma. He thought about going over to sit with them but realized that Daichi was sitting with Tanaka. This was probably as alone as he was going to get. Asahi tentatively made his way over and sat down beside Daichi. 

Asahi didn’t know what he expected, but nothing happened. The conversation flowed easily between the three of them. He wasn’t sure if it was worth bringing it up or not since Daichi didn’t seem like he was still mad. 

Sugawara laughed, taking a bite from his slice of watermelon. Yaku was always a breath of fresh air. Sugawara loved his team, but they were always a bit much. That was part of their charm. He was pretty sure Yaku felt the same about his own team as well. 

“What’s going on with you guys?” Yaku asked, one of his cheeks full of watermelon. 

“Hm?” Sugawara swallowed, tipping his head slightly. 

“You guys are all over the place,” Yaku pointed out. 

“Yeah,” Sugawara laughed again, “we’re just testing the waters with some new techniques.” Yaku’s brows went up. 

“I see that’s going well.” Sugawara snorted softly. They’d figure it out eventually. 

~~_Eat Watermelon_ ~~

  
“Hey, where’s Suga?” Yamaguchi asked, glancing around the gym. 

“Huh?” Hinata whirled around, searching for the third-year setter. They were in the middle of their sets, where would he have gone? 

Sugawara sighed softly, pulling his knees against his chest. His eyes were fixed on the horizon where the sun was disappearing. The sky lit up with pinks, purples, and yellows. It was calming. Sugawara knew if anyone realized he slipped out he’d get yelled at, but it was worth it. 

Having Asahi along for the ride with his bucket list was great, and he didn’t think he would be willing to do any of it if he was going it alone, however, he thought he could take this one on alone. It gave him an excuse to take a breather and to clear his head.   


~~_Watch the Sunset_ ~~

"Asahi," Suga grabbed Asahi's arm and yanked him towards the darkened hallway, opposite of where their team's room was. "Don't fall asleep, okay?" 

"What?" Asahi looked at Sugawara, the confusion written all over his face. He'd just taken a bath; his hair was hanging loose around his shoulders, dripping onto his t-shirt. 

"Would you agree to go if I told you what we were going to do?" Sugawara asked, eyebrow quirking in amusement. Asahi sighed. 

"It depends," he admitted, “but the fact you feel the need to ask me that makes me feel like I would say no.” 

"Then you'll just have to wait and see." Suga clapped a hand on his upper back before stalking off towards their room. 

  


Asahi struggled to keep himself awake. He was exhausted after their long day of practice. They all were. How many laps up the hill had they done today? More than enough, that's for sure. They were still a mess today. It was getting better, but it still just wasn't coming together. 

Suga's socked foot nudged into Asahi's side, interrupting his train of thought. 

"Everyone's asleep, let's go." He hissed out in a low whisper. Asahi's eyes darted around the room, the gentle sounds of their teammates breathing around them. He lingered on Daichi, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest before he drug himself out from his blanket and followed Suga quietly from the room. 

They didn't speak until they were out of the building. Asahi wasn't sure if that was to keep him from bailing on whatever Suga was dragging him into or to keep from waking or alerting anyone else to them sneaking out. Maybe both? 

"So, during one of our breaks I took a walk..." Suga started, a mysterious glint in his eyes. "I found the perfect place to mark off some of the apocalist items." 

"We're at a school, Suga." Asahi pointed out. "What could you possibly want to do at a school?" 

"It's not about the school. It's about what I found on the school grounds." Sugawara skipped and headed towards the hill. "I wasn't sure where we'd get the chance to mark this item off, but this makes it easy." 

"So, you're taking me into the woods," Asahi said a nervous lift in his voice. "At night, in a place neither of us are familiar with." Sugawara hummed in thought. 

"Well, sure if you put it that way it sounds crazy, but I promise, it's fine." Ducking his head, Sugawara began to weave between some trees and started down an overgrown path. 

"Your whole list is crazy, Suga." Asahi sighed, a branch scraping his cheek as he followed behind. Sugawara ignored him, deciding to talk about today's practice instead. He was saying something about Noya and the progress he's made in setting when they stepped into a clearing. 

There was a small pond in the center of the clearing. A dock jutted out towards the center of it and the moon reflected in its still waters. It was a serene image. Asahi was lost in taking it in when he looked over to Sugawara, who was topless and in the process of shucking off his shorts that he'd been planning to sleep in. 

"S-Suga?!" Asahi looked away, feeling the heat climbing his neck. He heard Sugawara laugh. 

"It's a two for one. Jump off a dock and skinny dipping!" Suga called over his shoulder just before Asahi heard a loud splash. He whipped his head around the looked into the darkness. Panic surged through him. They didn’t know how deep it was. Was Suga okay? He let out a sigh of relief when Sugawara’s head broke through the surface of the water. His silver hair looked white in the glow of the moon. He was laughing, calling for Asahi to come join him. 

Asahi shook his head and walked down the dock, still fully clothed. 

“I don’t know that I’m adventurous enough for this.” 

“Live a little.” Sugawara chirped from the water as Asahi took off his shoes and socks before he settled on the edge of the wooden planks. He let his feet and ankles dip into the water. 

“I snuck out in the middle of the night during training camp. I think I’m living plenty.” Asahi said with an eye roll. Sugawara laughed again, dipping under the water. Asahi leaned back on his palms, looking up at the moon. He shook his head with a soft laugh. Sugawara was ridiculous. 

Before his thoughts could go any further his stomach dropped when something wrapped around his ankle. A yell escaped him as he was yanked into the pond, causing him to inhale the nasty water as his head fell below the surface. 

He was coughing and sputtering once he came back up. He shook his now soggy hair out of his face and glared at Sugawara, who was cackling and swimming away from him. 

“Suga, my clothes,” Asahi groaned, his loose t-shirt floating around his body. 

“They’ll dry, it’s fine.” 

“How do you know these weren’t my only pair of clothes to sleep in?” He countered halfheartedly. 

“Because you slept in different clothes last night?” Suga spread his arms out and allowed himself to float on the water’s surface. “Besides, you could always sleep in practice clothes.” Suga closed his eyes, the moonlight highlighting his silver eyelashes. “Now, you have two choices. Keep your soggy clothes on, and trek back in them, or you can take them off now and hope they can dry out at least a little.” 

Asahi grumbled as he got himself out of the pond and stripped off his clingy, wet clothes. He rang them out and draped them over a tree limb to let them air dry. He didn’t particularly want to swim, but he figured it would be better to get in the water rather than stand there naked.   


~~_Jump off a Pier/Dock_ ~~

~~_Skinny Dipping_~~

Asahi groaned, turning his head in an attempt to get away from Noya's voice. Nishinoya was leaning down over him trying to wake him up. Straightening up, Noya turned to the curtains and yanked them open. The sunlight beamed down on both Asahi and Suga. They both hissed and covered their eyes. 

"Good morning!" Noya chirped happily at their adverse reactions to his wake-up call. Daichi, who was already dressed and had his sleeping space tidied up, looked over at them. Sugawara was still laying there, eyes squeezed shut with his palms pressed against his brow bone. Asahi, at least, was sitting up now. His eyes narrowed at Sugawara, blaming him for their severe lack of sleep. Daichi took it in for a moment. Trying to decide what that look on Asahi’s face meant while also being hung up on the fact that Suga was usually a natural early riser. 

“Hey, what happened to your face?” Hinata asked, his head cocked to the side as he looked at Asahi. 

“Huh?” His hand went up to his cheek, suddenly remembering the branch that scrapped him on their way to the pond. He laughed nervously. “Oh, I must have scratched myself while I was sleeping.” Suga bit his lower lip, stifling a laugh as he got up to get dressed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sugawara was bustling around the kitchen, taking stalk of the ingredients he had on hand when he heard a knock at the front door. He perked up and skipped to answer it. Throwing it open, he beamed at Asahi, who was dressed in grey fabric shorts and a fitted black t-shirt. 

“I should warn you,” Asahi started, pausing to toe off his shoes before following Sugawara into the house. “I’m no good in the kitchen.” 

“Learning is half the fun, Asahi.” Sugawara grabbed an apron from a hook on the wall, tossing it to Asahi. The larger teen stared at the fabric for a long moment. 

“Do I have to wear this?” His hair fell into his face when he finally looked back up at Sugawara. The apron in question was pastel pink with hearts on it, and ruffles, so many ruffles. Meanwhile, Sugawara was wearing a simple baby blue one. 

“Yes, the apron is mandatory,” Sugawara giggled while Asahi reluctantly slipped it on and secured the tie behind his back. He was glad that at least it was only the two of them witnessing the garment. Suga called out to him, “Asahi!” His head popped up, just in time for Sugawara to snap a selfie with the frilly pink adorned Asahi in the background. “Aw, cute!” 

“Suga,” Asahi groaned, but he could help but smile at the fit of laughter that bubbled out of Sugawara. He was excited, and knowing that he wasn’t stuck in the gloomy mood Daichi had sent him into was more than worth the hideous apron. 

The pair calmed down and got busy, just after Sugawara forced Asahi to sit down so he could pull his hair back into a neat little bun at the nape of his neck anyway. 

Sugawara was clearly comfortable in the kitchen and drastically better than Asahi. Sugawara was enjoying himself. Asahi admired his confidence. He was trying a new recipe for peach crumb bars, using another recipe as a base and making modifications. He was also helping guide Asahi through another recipe for mini poppy seed muffins. 

It was a lot of fun. Asahi was terrible, but Suga didn’t seem to mind. There was one point where Asahi was using the stand mixer while Suga was putting a tray into the oven, but apparently, he did it wrong because the powdery mixture he’d just poured into the wet ingredients that had already been mixed exploded and he was cloaked in a cloud of power. 

“Oh, my gosh,” Sugawara doubled over in laughter. “Asahi, what did you do.” 

“I-” Asahi blinked at himself and the offending mixer. “I have no idea.” 

“Not even the apron could have saved you from that one.” 

“Wha-” Asahi pulled his eyes away from Sugawara’s amused, laughing face and down at his clothes. “Oh.” His black shirt was no longer black, or at least the collar and sleeves weren’t anyway. They were covered in a fine layer of white power, which was mostly flour. He assumed it was flour anyway. 

After the one disaster, everything else went smoothly, and Sugawara seemed satisfied with the turn out of his new recipe. They quickly threw together some sandwiches and tossed some various other things into a Tupperware containers. Sugawara dug out a wicker basket from a cabinet under the counter and placed everything into it before topping it with a blanket. 

~~_Learn to Bake Something New_ ~~

Before heading out they managed to get Asahi’s shirt back into an acceptable state, with much less flour adornment. He could have just run home and grabbed a new one, but Suga had argued that it wasn’t worth the effort. 

They took a short walk, Sugawara with the basket in hand, to a park nearby. The park was small, and there were quite a few young kids playing around, and an older group of maybe college students playing with a frisbee. 

Once they found a space under a tree a fair distance away from the groups, Sugawara spread out the blanket for them to sit on. 

“This is so cliché,” he exclaimed, falling back and sprawling out on the blanket. “I love it, I’ve always wanted to do this.” Asahi huffed in amusement. 

“It is pretty cliché, huh?” He stretched out his legs and leaned back on his hands. “Is it bucket list worthy though?” Suga sat back up and pouted at Asahi. 

“It’s an apocalist.” 

“Right,” Asahi laughed. They were the same thing, but Sugawara just liked the more fun name. 

“And, yes, I’d say it is. How often do you find yourself going on a picnic? Blanket, basket, the works?” 

“Well, right now,” Asahi offered, a smile making his features much softer than usual. 

“Exactly.” Suga nudged him with his shoulder before diving into the basket to retrieve some of the food they’d prepared. 

~~_Have a Picnic_~~

  
***************************************************************************** 

Suga whirled around, his lower lip caught between his teeth. Asahi’s stomach fluttered, he blinked, trying to place the new feeling. There was a sudden ache to pull Sugawara close and make sure that bright, exuberant look never left his face. 

“Asahi, I wanna go on that one!” Asahi wasn’t even focused on where Suga was pointing, he didn’t care. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Sugawara. His silver hair lifted with the wind as Sugawara grabbed Asahi’s hand with both of his, walking backward as he pulled him a few steps in the direction he wanted to go. 

His loose pastel pink top caught the wind as well, a small sliver of his pale skin just above the waistband of his skinny jeans caught Asahi’s eye before he forced himself to focus back on Suga’s face. His big, doe-like eyes sparkled as he laughed and finally turned to face where he was going, one of his hands still firmly clasped around Asahi’s, forcing him to follow him. 

“--right?” 

“Huh?” Asahi shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind of the confusing thoughts that had taken over. Suga made a face, the bridge of his nose scrunching adorably. 

“Are you not listening?” He planted his hands on his hips. 

“Uh, no, I guess not,” Asahi confessed lamely, which lit Suga’s face up with another bout of laughter. 

“You’re hopeless.” Suga leaned over, putting his weight on Asahi in an affectionate way for a brief moment before standing back up straight and walking forward a few steps as the line they were waiting in shifted. It was now that Asahi registered that they were in a line for a ride, a roller-coaster specifically. His stomach flipped and fluttered again, but this time for an entirely different reason. 

“Suga, I don’t know if I can do this.” 

“Sure, you can.” He gave Asahi a cheeky smile, elbowing him in the side a bit harder than necessary. Asahi grunted and rubbed the afflicted area, gaping up at the looming monster that Suga was going to force him to board. 

Suga led the conversation for the time they spent in line, while Asahi focused on not puking at the mere thought of getting on that thing. All too soon, they found themselves near the front of the line, guaranteeing them a seat on the next round. 

“You ready?” Sugawara asked, bouncing on the ball of his feet. 

“No,” Asahi said miserably. His hands found his stomach. 

“Well, you better get ready then.” Suga grinned. His hair and shirt swirled as the wind whipped around them, the car rushing into the covered area and jolting to a halt. 

“Is it too late to change my mind?” Asahi asked nervously, allowing Sugawara to pull him through the little gate in front of them and all but shoved him into the seats of the car. They were in the back car; Sugawara had claimed that it’s the best seat to be in. Something about being whipped around more. Asahi couldn’t focus on what Sugawara was saying anymore. 

Before he realized what was happening, he was sitting in the car, wedged against Sugawara’s side with Suga fussing with the buckle on the belt that was fastened over his lap. 

“You going to put your belt on, or...?” Suga’s question and curious look snapped Asahi out of it and his own fingers quickly started to move. Grabbing the belt and securing it around his hips. Sugawara was getting frustrated with his own, struggling to get the belt to tighten. “Asahi, can you help?” Asahi grabbed the excess material of the belt, his fingers brushing Suga’s and causing a small jolt of electricity to cross between them, or at least through Asahi anyway. He pulled the material tight against Sugawara’s smaller frame just in time for the machine on the platform to buzz and the lap bar to lower itself. 

“Why did this have to be a part of your bucket list?” Asahi whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“Apocalist,” Suga corrected, “and it isn’t.” 

“What?” Asahi’s eyes flew open and he gaped at Sugawara. 

“Going to an amusement park is on the list, but not specifically riding a roller coaster.” 

“I hate you...” 

“No, you don’t,” Suga laughed just as the car started to pull out of the platform. 

“No,” Asahi shook his head frantically, “no, I think that I do.” Asahi’s eyes focused on the huge incline of the track, he wanted off. He wanted off so badly. 

“Sure, you do,” Suga grinned, his hands tightening in anticipation on their lap bar. Asahi’s knuckles were turning white on the lap bar, his own tightened hold being out of terror rather than excitement like Sugawara. 

Asahi didn’t get a chance to confirm his newfound disdain for Sugawara in this moment before the coaster reached the peak and shot off down the massive slope. Sugawara wasn’t sure what to expect from Asahi, but he was set off into a fit of laughter. First, Asahi let out a short scream, but then quickly grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Poor Asahi was clinging to the lap bar for dear life, and he tucked his head down and into the space between Suga’s neck and shoulder. 

Sugawara loved it. He thought it was exhilarating, though he did think that Asahi having his eyes closed might actually make it worse. You could at least brace for the drops and turns if you could see them coming. He was also sure that Asahi had given himself a concussion by trying to shield his face in Suga’s shoulder. Suga almost guaranteed he would be sporting a nice bruise himself from it. 

The ride only took a short while before they found themselves coming to a jolting halt back under the covered loading area. Asahi was panting, his face a vague shade of blue when he finally untucked it from Sugawara’s body. Sugawara was still laughing, his eyes wide and his hair tasseled. Asahi wanted to enjoy the excitement Suga was radiating, but he was too petrified and wanted to get off the metal death trap. 

Asahi was shaky on his feet while they made their way down the stairs that would deposit them back on the main strip of the amusement park. After sucking in a few deep breaths and feeling the firm pavement beneath his feet Asahi felt much better. He turned to Suga, his deep brown eyes set and narrowed slightly. 

“I’m calling it quits on the rides for the rest of the day.” Suga pouted at Asahi, but he struggled to keep the smile off his face. 

“Aw, not even the Farris wheel?” Asahi sighed and looked in the direction of the giant wheel, it was turning in the distance slowly. 

“Fine, but I don’t think I can handle anything else.” Sugawara’s smile practically blinded Asahi. 

“Perfect!” Without any hesitation Suga grabbed Asahi’s hand and dashed off in another direction. Pointedly not towards the Farris wheel. Asahi wasn’t sure if he should be thankful that Sugawara didn’t want to thrust him onto it immediately, or if he should dread whatever Suga had his sights set on this time. 

As it turns out, Asahi had nothing to worry about. Sugawara had dragged him over to the little alleyway that housed the games. The crappy rigged ones that offered less than desirable quality trinkets and plushies, but Suga was walking around with his eyes flitting around the stalls. He was observing and clearly weighing things out in his mind. 

Asahi was focusing on the fact that Sugawara was still firmly holding his hand when Suga stopped, causing Asahi to bump into him. He felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Sorry.” But Suga didn’t seem to notice, he was transfixed by something just over Asahi’s shoulder. Asahi slowly turned to see what it was, and Sugawara practically shoved him out of the way. 

“Asahi,” Suga said, awe in his voice. “I need it.” Asahi looked at the stall that Sugawara was staring at. It took him a second to register what could be so exciting to Sugawara. Then he saw it. It was so painfully dumb, he hated it, but he knew that no way was Suga leaving without the stupid thing. 

“Suga...” Asahi started, not sure how to address the monstrosity. 

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.” 

“I think the ride scrambled your brain.” Asahi deadpanned. Was Sugawara actually tearing up? Asahi rubbed a hand over his face in exasperation just before Sugawara grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt. 

“I need it.” He said again, a pleading tone seeping into his voice. Asahi’s eyes narrowed at it. 

“Why does it have to be so big?” 

“That just makes it better!” Suga exclaimed, releasing Asahi’s shirt and tripping over his feet as he made his way over to the board looking teenager sitting on a stool at the game in question. Asahi shook his head, following at a more reasonable pace while Sugawara practically threw cash at the poor kid who clearly wasn’t ready for the intensity of an excited Sugawara. Asahi knew the wrath of an excited Sugawara; the whole team did. Except for Noya and Hinata. Somehow, they avoided the same beating the rest of the team endured in his excitement. 

The poor kid was rattling off the rules to Sugawara, but it seemed pretty self-explanatory, throw the darts, hit the balloons, obtain the weird plushie. Asahi shoved his hands into his pockets and was preparing to stand back and watch Sugawara play his game, but of course it was never that simple. 

Sugawara’s aim was horrid. How could he be so athletic and such a good setter with that bad of an arm. He missed, with all five of his darts. He managed to not hit a single balloon. How? Asahi didn’t know, but the sad puppy dog eyes Suga was currently giving him left him with no option but to sigh and step up to the game. The kid gave him five more darts and he raised a brow at Sugawara. 

“I’m impressed with how bad you are at this,” Asahi laughed, taking aim at the balloons. 

“Gee, thanks,” Suga said with an eye roll. Sugawara flinched at the sound of the first balloon popping when the dart connected with it. “Yes!” Suga excitedly grabbed onto Asahi, which conveniently threw him off balance just as he threw the dart. The dart hit the dirt and Asahi turned to Suga, unimpressed. “Sorry,” Sugawara offered meekly. 

“Chill out, Suga,” Asahi said with the shake of his head. He threw his third dart, successfully hitting another balloon. The fourth and fifth following in quick succession, Asahi didn’t think four of five was bad, but it wasn’t good enough for the giant plush that Suga wanted. 

“Can we try again and add the scores?” Suga asked hopefully. 

“No,” the kid said with a shrug. Sugawara made a face. “You can pick one from the middle row, or two from the bottom.” 

“What do you want?" Asahi asked, knowing exactly what Sugawara wanted. He was already fishing out his wallet and handing more cash to the kid. “Just pick something, okay? We’ll keep going.” Sugawara hummed, rocking back on his heels, eyes rolling over the options. 

“That one.” Sugawara pointed towards the edge of the display. 

“What is with you and weird things?” 

“It’s not weird, he’s adorable!” Sugawara insisted as the guy handed him the plushie in question. “Look at his precious little face and wrinkles!” He held it up towards Asahi, practically shoving the thing in his face. Asahi pushed it away. 

“To each their own, I suppose.” Personally, he would consider Sugawara adorable, not the pink wrinkly creature Suga was currently holding against his chest. 

“I like naked mole rats,” Sugawara said softly, biting his lower lip. Asahi shook his head and threw his first dart for this set. Connecting solidly, the balloon burst, followed by the second, third, fourth, and finally the fifth. Considering it was an amusement park game, it wasn’t very difficult. 

“The mapo tofu.” Asahi said, to the kid, who’s face scrunched in harsh judgement. 

“Why?” 

“Because that’s the one he wants.” The kid turned to Sugawara this time. 

“Why?” He repeated. 

“Why not?” Sugawara said with a bright smile, the kid stared at him for a long moment before turning to pull the oversized plush of mapo tofu down. 

“Are you happy?” Asahi asked, a small smile pulling at his lips. 

“Extremely.” Just before the kid could hand over the plush, Sugawara threw his arms around Asahi’s middle. Hugging him tightly, Asahi’s body went rigid, awkwardly hugging him back with one arm, accepting the weird plush bowl of Suga’s favorite food with the other. “Thank you, Asahi.” 

“Mhm,” Asahi looked at the plushie. “You want me to carry it?” 

“Sure,” Sugawara squeezed the naked mole rat to his chest while Asahi tucked the mapo tofu plush under one of his arms. 

“Anything else in particular you wanted to do while we were here?” 

“Hm,” Sugawara looked around while they walked. Sugawara nodded towards a cute little shop along the amusements park’s main strip. It was painted in gentle pastel colors and looked incredibly charming. Asahi agreed, happy that Suga wasn’t insisting on another rollercoaster. He didn’t think his heart could handle that again. 

The pair entered the building, a little bell above the door chimed. The pair approached the counter and quickly put in their order before finding a seat near the window of the shop. They chose a table with three chairs instead of two so they could put their plushes in the extra chair. 

It didn’t take too long before the girl working the counter brought them their decorative bowls, really honing in on the retro ice cream shop feel. Each raised bowl has three perfect scoops in it. Sugawara pushed the two together to take a cute picture of them. He couldn’t help it. He loved the aesthetic. He may have also snuck a second photo of Asahi eating him a little while later. 

~~_Eat Ice Cream_ ~~

After the pair finished their ice cream, they decided to go ahead and head to the Farris wheel. Asahi breathed a sigh of relief; he didn’t think that he could survive any other rides without getting sick now that he’d eaten. 

  


Sugawara smiled at Asahi as they took their seats in the carriage of the ferris wheel. They sat opposite one another, the two plushes were settled beside Sugawara. Asahi returned the smile. He didn’t like heights, but he would take this over a fast-paced ride any day. Besides, the view was nice. 

The two didn’t talk much at first, just watching the horizon expand as they rose higher into the air. Honestly, Asahi was trying to keep himself from staring at Sugawara. It was all he wanted to do. Something changed. He couldn’t help but be extremely aware of Suga’s presence. 

“You ready for practice tomorrow?” Suga asked, cutting through the quiet around them. 

“I suppose,” Asahi allowed himself to meet Suga’s eyes. “I need to work on my serve some more.” 

“It’s really improving.” 

“You think so?” 

“Yeah,” Sugawara laughed, “you just need to get control of it with your full power.” Asahi chuckled softly. That was a major issue. He could serve hard and fast, but it was difficult to keep the ball on the court. He overshot it a lot. Control was key. Karasuno didn’t have many strong servers, so Asahi needs to get it together before nationals. 

Sugawara moved, freaking out Asahi a bit because their carriage rocked in protest. He planted himself down beside Asahi. It was a small space, so their shoulders were pressed together. 

“You’ve got this,” Suga encouraged. 

“Thanks,” Asahi nervously scratched at his cheek. 

Their conversation shifted away from practice to classes and their summer homework. Asahi wasn’t a bad student, but he wasn’t in the college prep courses like Sugawara was. 

  


Exiting the ride, they pair chattered easily. Each holding one of the stuffed “animals” they’d acquired earlier. They’d decided to head out now before it got dark. They had practice in the morning after all. Sugawara grinned to himself, making Asahi’s insides squeeze. This was going to get complicated; Asahi could feel it. Romantic feelings between friends always made things complicated. Just look at what happened between Sugawara and Daichi. 

~~_Go to an_ _Amusement_ _Park_ ~~


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you busy after practice?" Sugawara asked as he intercepted Asahi who was in the middle of putting on his gym shoes. A brown brow cocked upwards and Asahi's warm, chocolate eyes flitted over to Suga.

"No," he offered hesitantly, cramming his foot into his sneaker.

"Great, there's somewhere I wanna go." Offering no other explanation Suga entered the gym, somehow managing to get his own shoes changed before Asahi despite having just shown up. Sugawara was grinning softly, and he stepped out onto the floor. He was excited. Today they only had a half day of practice. That left plenty of time to mark off a major item on the apocalist… or attempt to anyway.

"Suga--" Asahi was scrambling to catch up to Sugawara but was cut off by a few short claps from Ukai, who was trying to get everyone's attention in order for practice to begin.

  


Asahi didn’t really get a chance to ask Sugawara about it for the remainder of practice, but he figured he should count it as a win that he only had half a practice to freak out about it. Otherwise, he'd probably go insane trying to figure out what Suga had up his sleeve this time. The secrecy always made him anxious.

After a few hours of drills, Ukai finally called it quits and dismissed them for the day. The guys did their usual clean up before they trickled out of the gym, enroute to the club room. Asahi couldn’t help but feel that Sugawara took his time sweeping, and he talked to Noya for what felt like eternity.

Asahi was already changed into a pair of baggy jeans and a fresh t-shirt by the time Suga wondered towards the club room. Once he finally reemerged, Suga was clad in a pair of skinny jeans and a loose-fitting, short sleeve floral button down.

“Hey, you ready?” Suga asked brightly, his infectious smile lighting up his face. Asahi nodded and readjusted his bag as they headed off to the gate.

“Hey, we’re grabbing meat buns!” Hinata called to them as they got near and saw that a good majority of the team was gathered near the school’s gate.

“Sorry, we’re going to have to take a pass today.” Suga held up his hands in apology to the group, his smile small and looked maybe a bit uncomfortable.

“Aw,” Hinata’s head dipped slightly at the new information, but he quickly brightened back up, turning to Kageyama and asking if this meant there would be extras.

“You two have plans?” Daichi asked, his eyebrows creeping up towards his hairline.

“Uh, yeah,” Asahi offered awkwardly. Daichi’s eyes drifted between the two of them, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Well,” Suga interjected, an awkward, forced laugh bubbling out of him. “We should get going. See ya!” He grabbed Asahi’s wrist and all but dragged him away. He could feel Daichi’s gaze burning into the back of his head as they headed in the opposite direction of their homes and the rest of the team.

“That wasn’t suspicious at all,” Asahi said with an eyeroll, still being drug along behind Sugawara by his wrist. 

“Shush, we’d never get this done if he decided to tag along.” 

“Right,” Asahi said slowly, picking up his pace just a bit so he was now walking beside Sugawara. “So, what is it we are doing again?” 

“Nice try, no way am I telling you, scaredy cat.” Suga quipped, dropping his hold on Asahi. 

“That’s not very reassuring.” Suga shrugged and winked. 

“You have nothing to worry about, just hang out and look pretty.” 

Asahi’s steps faltered a bit and butterflies swarmed in his stomach. Sure, it was probably just an offhand use of the phrase, but Asahi couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, Sugawara might actually think he’s attractive. It was a long shot. Wishful thinking really, but Asahi couldn’t help it. He was hopelessly falling for the mischievous, silver haired teen. 

They talked about the upcoming preliminaries while they walked. Asahi started to slow eventually, eyes scanning the area. He had no idea how they’d ended up where they were, but it was a sketchy area, one he really wasn’t a fan of being in. 

“S-Suga,” Asahi’s shaky fingers wrapped around Sugawara’s upper arm, forcing him to stop and turn to look at Asahi. “We probably should find a different way to go...” They were going to get mugged or something, Asahi was sure of it. Suga laughed, a gentle sound that completely contrasted the rough and grimy area they were standing in. 

“Nah, it’s just around the corner.” Shrugging off Asahi’s hold, Suga rounded the corner. He was amused with how nervous Asahi was in the area. Of the two of them, Asahi had the least to worry about, I mean, he looked much more intimidating and it was unlikely that anyone who mess with him unless he did something stupid. Suga, on the other hand, was smaller, daintier, and definitely could be seen as a push over, but he really wasn’t concerned. They weren’t venturing far into this area of town anyway. 

Their destination really was just around the corner, Asahi was about to protest once again, but Sugawara was already disappearing inside the building. Asahi glanced around nervously, but quickly slipped through the door behind him. 

“Su-” Asahi didn’t even get the name out before Suga whirled around in the doorway, causing Asahi to slam into his small form. 

“Don’t say my name.” Suga hissed under his breath. Asahi’s eyes widened and he blinked, bewildered by the sudden change in Sugawara. His eyes shifted from Sugawara’s pinched expression to where they were. His mouth opened to comment, but the look on Suga’s face made him close it without speaking. 

“Do you have an appointment?” 

“Uh-huh,” Suga plastered on a charming smile and turned to the man behind the counter. “I called yesterday?” Asahi’s eyes shifted around the room, taking everything in. He sort of checked out of the conversation Sugawara was having with the edgy, pierced guy at the counter for a moment. 

“Do you have your ID?” Asahi checked back in and bit his lower lip, eyes sliding over to Suga who pulled out his wallet and passed an ID over to the man. Asahi tried not to let his confusion show on his face, but he wasn’t sure why they were in a tattoo shop, or how Suga planned to pull this one off. 

“Right, come on back.” With a tip of his head the guy turned and started to the back of the shop. Asahi took the opportunity to peer over Suga’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of the ID Sugawara had presented the worker. It was obviously a fake ID, neither of them was old enough to get a tattoo, and the name was one Asahi didn’t recognize. 

“Where did you get that?” Asahi whispered quietly as they followed the man. 

“You’d be surprised what you can get online.” Suga whispered back, one corner of his lips tipping up slightly in a lopsided smirk. 

_ Oh, my god... _ Asahi was already nervous, now they were breaking the law, well, Sugawara was anyway. 

“Did you have a design in mind already?” They guy asked, and Suga hummed in confirmation. He tapped his phone screen a few times before pulling up something and passing it over to the man. “You want it in the same place?” Suga nodded in confirmation and the man changed his focus. “How about you, bud? You getting something today?” This question was directed at Asahi. 

“No, uh,” Asahi met Sugawara’s eyes. His silver brows were arched upwards in curiosity. “Not to today,” Asahi added awkwardly. He didn’t bother to point out that the guy didn’t even ask to see his ID, not that he had one to show. 

“I’ll be right back, go ahead and get comfortable.” 

Walking off, with Suga’s phone still in hand, the guy disappeared and left the two of them alone. Sugawara took a seat on the chair in the center of the room, and Asahi awkwardly stood beside him. 

“Are you crazy?” Asahi asked quietly with urgency in his tone. 

“No, I don’t think so.” Suga replied cheekily. 

“You’re getting a tattoo?” Asahi couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Uh-huh,” Sugawara grinned. “Cool, right?” 

“We’re going to get in so much trouble...” Asahi was starting to look pale. 

“Nah, you worry too much.” Their conversation was cut short when the man returned with a stencil and Suga’s phone, which he gave to Asahi. Sugawara stripped off his shirt and allowed the man to prep his skin for tattooing. Asahi found himself trying not to look at Sugawara’s exposed upper half. His feelings had been a big mess since they went to the amusement park.

The tattoo was going on Sugawara’s ribcage. Which, unfortunately, is a sensitive spot. Once the tattooing started Sugawara quickly realized he didn’t have much of a pain tolerance. This led to him clinging to Asahi’s hand and biting his lip to keep himself from making any noise. Maybe this wasn’t a great idea, but he was pretty dead set on it. His mom would kill him if she ever found out, but it was such a cute idea. 

Asahi spent the process being anxious as usual and being concerned about the pain that Suga was putting himself through. The whole process took about two hours, and as the time passed Sugawara got more used to the sensation of the needle on his skin. He carried a light conversation with the tattoo artist. Sugawara was excited to see the finished tattoo. Once the tattoo artist wiped off the ink and put down his tattoo gun he gestured for Sugawara to get up and check it out in the full body mirror he had adhered to the wall of the room. 

Suga dropped Asahi’s hand like a hot potato, which he’d kind of forgotten he was holding, and jumped up, excited to see the finished piece. He angled his body to get a good view of his side. The black ink was a harsh contrast to his pale skin. It looked amazing. 

_ “Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you’ll fly.” _

The script was a delicate cursive and there were silhouetted birds taking flight from the lettering. It was absolutely beautiful and everything that Suga was hoping it would be. He was so excited. 

“It’s perfect,” he said wistfully, twisting his body at a few different angles. He loved it. So worth it. 

“Okay, so I’m going to cover it. Keep the covering on for 24 hours, then I have some antibacterial ointment and lotion for you afterwards.” The man continued to rattle off the aftercare procedures for the tattoo before Sugawara paid and they headed out. 

“Are you happy?” Asahi asked curiously. 

“Definitely,” Sugawara bounced excitedly while they walked back in the direction of their homes. 

“I can’t believe you did it,” Asahi said, shaking his head. Everyone pegs Suga as sweet and docile, but he’s mischievous and isn’t opposed to taking risks. 

~~_ Get a Tattoo _ ~~

  
Asahi walked a step behind Suga. On the way back from the tattoo shop Suga had asked Asahi to come over to his place. Now, Suga was humming softly to himself, his gate light and bouncy. Asahi caught himself staring and tried to force his eyes off the form of his friend, but he couldn't. His feelings were a mess. 

He was falling for Sugawara, fast and hard. Maybe he had always liked him and just hadn't realized it, or he'd blatantly ignored it because Sugawara's attraction to Daichi had been so obvious. Asahi didn’t think he stood a chance with Suga, he was nothing like Daichi. Daichi was confident and strong. Asahi... well, he was a nervous wreck. Sure, he was physically strong, but mentally he was weaker than Daichi. 

His thoughts were quickly spiraling when Asahi realized that Suga had his head turned towards him, his pace slowed, looking at Asahi expectantly. He'd asked a question. 

"Sorry," Asahi mumbled, shaking his head in an attempt to rid of the self-doubting thoughts. "What?" Suga's eyebrows rose and his lips quirked up. 

"Nothing," there was a hint of laughter in his voice as Suga turned forwards again. They were approaching their homes. "You run home and grab clothes for tonight and for tomorrow’s practice, I'll start the snacks." 

"The what?" Asahi asked, a wrinkle forming on the bridge of his nose as he tried to figure out how much of this conversation he’d missed. 

"How long were you checked out, man?" Suga asked, as if reading his mind. He watched Suga's hair shift as he shook his head. He didn’t sound angry at least. "Just grab your shit and meet me at my house. I'll leave the door unlocked." Suga didn't give Asahi a chance to respond before he took off in a light jog, disappearing into his home a few short moments later while Asahi slowed to a stop and stared at the building. He gave himself a second to collect his thoughts, ignoring his conflicting emotions before making his way to his place. 

Sugawara's head thunked against the door as he leaned against it. He hadn't realized he was biting into the flesh of his bottom lip until he tasted the blood on this tongue. He swore softly and pried himself away from the door, forcing his feet into the kitchen. Sugawara yanked open the freezer to grab a container of leftover chicken he'd frozen. 

Asahi had looked so pensive. He had had such a distant expression and Suga's chest had tightened when he had physically watched Asahi's face twist into a look of panic. He hated that look on Asahi's rugged, handsome features. 

Sugawara's hands stilled when the thought registered. How long had he been thinking of Asahi as handsome? He thought back to when they had joined the Karasuno volleyball team in their first year, their first meeting. Asahi's hair had been shorter, and he'd yet to grow any facial hair. He hadn't been handsome back then. Cute, but not handsome. When had that changed? How had Suga not seen it before now? 

Asahi took a quick shower before he grabbed practice clothes for tomorrow and shoved them into his bag. He figured he'd just wear something he could sleep in over to Suga's tonight rather than pack something when he would just end up changing immediately anyway. His hair was still wet, but he didn’t want to bother with drying it since Suga had texted him at some point and asked what was taking so long. 

Asahi quietly entered Suga's home, toeing off his sneakers and lining them up neatly beside the shoes he recognized as Sugawara's. He was about to call out to let Suga know he was there when he heard a thud followed by a groan from deeper inside the house. Asahi picked up the pace and rounded the corner to the living room where he found Sugawara leaning down, rubbing his shin. He looked up, a slight look of surprise on his face, it melted away when he realized it was Asahi. He smiled sheepishly and straightened up. 

"Hey, took you long enough." Suga laughed. 

"Are you okay?" Asahi asked, ignoring Sugawara's comment. Suga's cheeks flushed slightly and he looked down at the coffee table with a slight pout. 

"Yeah," he waved an arm at the offending table. Asahi smiled, putting it together that Suga had bumped into it, and then it struck him that the furniture wasn't in its usual place. 

"What are you doing?" Asahi asked, looking at the couch, which was shoved crookedly to the side facing the sliding doors that led to the small lawn in the back of Sugawara's house. 

"Making space," Suga offered, as if that explained everything. "Can you grab the chairs from the kitchen?" Asahi's brows shot up. 

"I guess..." he said slowly, confused as to why Suga would want the kitchen chairs in the living room when they had a perfectly good couch to sit on, but whatever. He dropped his bag against the wall and moved to grab the chairs. He grabbed one under each arm and retreated back to the living room. Suga was gone, but Asahi could hear him on the stairs. 

He stood there, contemplating if he should sit in one of the chairs he'd just relocated, but he didn't land on a decision before Suga had wandered back into the room. He had a bundle of blankets in his arms. The top of his head was barely visible over his load. He made his way over to the couch where he dumped everything onto the floor. Suga grinned at Asahi before he tipped his head toward the kitchen. 

"We're going to need all four." Asahi stared at Sugawara, then let his eyes drop to the pile of blankets. 

"What are you doing?" Asahi asked again as he considered what Sugawara's mom would have to say about her destroyed living room. Suga winked. 

"Working on the apocalist," Suga brushed past Asahi, bumping his shoulder playfully on his way by. Asahi sighed and accepted that Suga was toying him and moved to grab the other two chairs. 

This time when Sugawara came back downstairs, he had a bunch of pillows. He tossed them onto his pile and planted his hands on his hips. 

"Hm, I've never actually done this before," he mused. He turned to look at Asahi. "Have you made a pillow fort before?” Asahi surprised them both with a laugh. 

"A pillow fort? Really, Suga?" Asahi looked down at the pile of blankets and pillows, then back at Sugawara. "We're third years in high school, and you want us to make a pillow fort?" Asahi was still chuckling softly, but his heart faltered when he saw a wounded look in Sugawara's eyes despite his easy smile. Changing gears Asahi, crouched down to sift through the pile on the floor. Locating the lone sheet, he struggled with it until he got it free from the tangle of blankets. "Can you get some more sheets? Two or three, maybe?" Asahi asked over his shoulder as he examined the sheet. The brightness seemed to return to Suga's eyes, and he nodded curtly before darting off for the stairs. Asahi heard him stumble in his haste. 

Sugawara brought back the three requested sheets and the two got to work on constructing a pillow fort. Asahi started by draping the first sheet over the back of the couch and the backs of the two chairs they’d positioned closest to it. Two more sheets got placed over top of the chairs to create a canopy, and then the final sheet was thrown over it to close off the opening. They’d weighted down the sheets on the chairs and couch with random objects. A few of Sugawara’s textbooks, Asahi’s bag, and a half full water bottle left over from practice. 

Sugawara giggled as he crawled into the space below the sheets. They’d padded the floor with some blankets and a handful of pillows. He opened up his laptop as Asahi crawled in behind him. He was booting up the computer as Asahi grunted, flopping down on the plush surface they’d prepared in their darkened fort. 

~~_ Build a Pillow Fort _ ~~

“You ready for a long night?” Suga asked, his eyes shimmering. 

“We have practice in the morning.” Asahi pointed out, as if Sugawara didn’t know that. 

“And we have a long list of movies we need to marathon tonight.” Suga rolled himself over slightly, pressing his head against Asahi’s shoulder for a moment before dropping back onto his stomach. He pulled up a web browser on his laptop. “I’m going to go grab the snacks, be right back.” 

“Want some help?” Asahi asked, already following Suga out of the sheet tent. The boys made their way to the kitchen. Suga asked Asahi to grab a bag of popcorn from the cabinet as he moved to get the chicken he’d left in the oven to warm. They moved around one another in the kitchen. Popping the popcorn in the microwave, dumping the chicken onto a plate, and grabbing another plate that had brownies on it. 

They took their spoils with them into the enclosure of their newly constructed fort. After getting themselves and the food situated, Sugawara returned to the tab he’d opened earlier and booted up the first movie. He hadn’t asked for Asahi’s input on what they should watch, Asahi didn’t mind. He would watch anything that wasn’t a horror movie or too gory. 

He snorted softly when he realized they were watching Disney movies tonight. When was the last time he’d watched one of these? He had no idea. He found it more entertaining that Sugawara knew the lyrics to the songs than he actually found the movies, but it was well enough for him. He just liked how carefree and happy Sugawara seemed in this moment. 

~~_ Movie Marathon _ ~~

“Hey, Asahi?” Suga asked softly. He was now laying on his back, staring up at the dip in the fabric draped above them. Asahi hummed softly in question, he was on his stomach, eyes fixed on the screen and the credits from the fourth movie they’d watched. “Since we’re already going all out...” Suga paused and pulled himself up into a sitting position. The top of his head brushed against the sheets. “Wanna light some sparklers with me?” His eyes crinkled as he smiled giddily at Asahi, who smiled back. 

“Do you just have sparklers laying around?” Asahi asked, genuinely curious, as he sat up as well, he was tall enough that his head pushed up on the sheets above them. 

“I bought them for the apocalist. I just didn’t know the best time to actually light them, ya know?” 

“And you want to do it now?” Suga shrugged. 

“No time like the present, yeah?” 

Sugawara joked about tonight being their night to be like kids again. Asahi had laughed and couldn't help but agree. They’d made a pillow fort, had a Disney movie marathon, ate junk as a sad excuse for dinner, and now were in the backyard with the fireworks in hand, laughing and joking as they lit up the space between them. 

It was silly, but Suga loved it. Simple pleasures, he thought. It was nice to just take a step back and let go. Enjoy the little things. Sure, maybe it was childish, but as the summer pushed on Sugawara felt the impending pressure of the spring tournament and their pending graduation. He needed this. 

~~_ Light Sparklers _ ~~

Eventually, the two of them burned through a few sparklers each and decided to head back inside. Sugawara fished the dishes and leftovers from their snacks out of their pillow fort and put them into the kitchen, intending to deal with them later, after a movie or two more. 

It turns out that that had been optimistic on Sugawara’s part because once they got settled back into the fort and started up another movie Sugawara passed out. Asahi hadn’t even noticed that Suga had fallen asleep until he rolled over, his head handing on Asahi’s arm. 

Asahi stilled; his expression soft as he looked down at Sugawara’s sleeping face. He felt a pang in his chest as he took in the gentleness of Suga’s shallow breaths and the slight curve of his lips. Asahi tried to turn his focus back to the movie, but it was a difficult task with the person who made Asahi’s insides turn to mush curled up against him, using him as a pillow. 

“You okay, man?” Asahi flinched and whipped his head around to look at Daichi, who was frowning at him. “You look like shit.” 

“Thanks,” he mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face. Asahi hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. He just hadn’t been able to calm down after Sugawara fell asleep on him. At first it was a matter of calming his rapid heartbeat, then, his brain had taken over and he couldn’t shut it off. It had been a long few hours. His eyes scanned the gym, searching for Suga. Suga was talking to Kageyama, he yawned and drug a hand through his silver hair. He was tired, too. He’d gotten more sleep than Asahi, but not by much. They’d been up pretty late. Daichi’s brows rose. 

“What’s going on with you two?” He asked, eyes shifting between Suga and Asahi. Asahi bit his lower lip and cast one last look at Sugawara before turning his attention to Daichi. 

“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. It was the truth, wasn’t it? There wasn’t really anything going on between them. Not really. They were hanging out, sure, and Asahi had definitely caught feelings for Sugawara, but he was almost certain that this was just a matter of spending time with a friend for Sugawara. Daichi crossed his arms over his chest, Asahi swallowed as he took in the look on Daichi’s face. He looked like a disapproving father, clearly not buying it. “I’m serious, Daichi.” Asahi started quietly. “There’s nothing going on with us.” Even if he wanted there to be.

Something shifted in Daichi’s expression and demeanor. His hard, brown eyes softening as they examined Asahi’s large form. He clasped a hand on Asahi’s shoulder, offering a strained smile to his friend. He didn’t say anything else before he turned and walked away, leaving Asahi to stand there dumbly. 

Practice went on as usual. Asahi caught himself staring at Sugawara, and then caught Daichi staring at him. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. It made him uncomfortable, and the three of them didn’t really talk throughout practice which just made it worse. 

Sugawara had noticed Asahi and Daichi staring at him earlier this morning. He tried to ignore them, but the look that passed between the two of them made his stomach tighten nervously. What was that about? It hadn’t stopped there either. Suga noticed Asahi staring frequently throughout practice, because he was staring too, but he hoped he was a bit more subtle than Asahi had been. Daichi was also staring… at Asahi. For some reason. 

It was a relief when practice was finally over. The guys cleaned up the gym and trickled out, heading to get changed in the clubroom before heading home for the day. Sugawara yanked his damp t-shirt off and was rifling around his bag for a clean shirt. He’d just located it and straightened up when he felt eyes burning into him. He tipped his head to the side and looked at Daichi, who’s eyes were locked onto him. His ribcage specifically, where Suga’s pale skin was now marked with the harsh black of a tattoo. 

“Suga,” he said slowly. Tanaka and Hinata both stiffened at the tone of Daichi’s voice and turned to face the third years. Asahi had also frozen when he turned to see that Daichi was staring at Suga’s tattoo, a tattoo that Sugawara definitely should not have. “What the hell is that?” Suga grinned nervously at Daichi, trying to feign nonchalance. 

“What does it look like, Daichi?” Suga asked teasingly, keeping up his facade. 

“No way!” Noya exclaimed, crowding closer to see the tattoo. “You got a tattoo? That’s so cool!” Hinata made a sound of amazement and Tanaka started laughing, saying something about wanting to get one. Sugawara grinned when he heard the term “badass” thrown in there at one point from Noya. 

Daichi was quiet, ignoring the chatter from the excited underclassmen, who clearly approved of Sugawara’s new body art. Asahi stayed quiet too, pulling his jeans on. Daichi noticed the fact that Asahi was doing his best to stay out of the conversation or look at Sugawara. His eyes hardened further, if that was possible. 

Asahi grabbed his bag and shuffled through the room and slipped out. Daichi grabbed his own bag and followed Asahi. Giving up on getting answers from Suga when he was being praised by their teammates. 

“Asahi,” Daichi said with a flat tone, catching the ace as he was stepping off the stairs. “You weren’t surprised to see it. You knew.” Asahi stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring off in the distance. Daichi sounded angry, maybe even hurt. Asahi turned around, the wind picking up the loose strands of his long hair. He wasn’t sure why Daichi was mad at him, or even why he really cared about what Sugawara had done. The two stared at one another for a long moment, before Daichi scoffed and shook his head, brushing past Asahi, jostling him on the way. Asahi stood there; eyes locked on the place that Daichi had been standing moments prior. Bile rose in the back of his throat, feeling the rift forming between them. Or, more realistically, feeling the rift get bigger.


	4. Chapter 4

A light pinging sound caught Asahi's attention, rousing him from his near sleep. The sound echoed through his bedroom again. It took a groggy moment before he realized it was coming from his window. 

He drug himself out of bed and begrudgingly yanked open his window. A smiling Sugawara greeted him from down below. 

"Let me in!" Suga called out in a soft tone, conscious not to be too loud and wake Asahi's parents or neighbors. In the window, Asahi nodded, his hair falling into his face before he turned and disappeared. 

Suga smiled and made his way over to the front door to wait for Asahi. He glanced over his shoulder towards the road, at his house just a few doors down, and the small car parked in his parent's driveway. 

"Suga, you are aware that it’s, like, midnight, right?" Asahi's brows were drawn together, his frame filling the doorway. 

"Uh-huh," Suga nodded and nudged his way past his friend and slipping into the darkness of Asahi's home. Asahi rolled his eyes, closing the door and following Sugawara through his own house. The slighter boy wove his way through the familiar space with ease, his destination clearly Asahi's bedroom. 

Suga flopped down onto the edge of Asahi's bed, tucking his legs beneath him. Asahi wasn't far behind, his brown eyes drifted over Sugawara. He was wearing grey cotton shorts and a pastel pink t-shirt. His stomach flipped around and he racked his brain. Has Suga ever been over without Daichi being here too? He didn’t think so. It had always been three of them. 

"Suga, wha--" He was cut off by a jingling noise. Suga had keys, which he spun by the keyring around one of his fingers before catching them in his palm. 

"Pack your bags." Asahi blinked at the demand, not following. "We're taking a trip," Sugawara explained getting to his feet, tossing the keys at Asahi, who fumbled to keep from dropping them. He was still trying to catch up, but Suga had grabbed a bag from Asahi's closet and deposited it on the bed. 

"Suga, neither of us can drive." Asahi was gaping at him. 

"That's not true," Suga countered, waving at Asahi in dismissal. 

"What do you--" 

"Your uncle has been teaching you to drive." Suga crossed his arms over his chest, fawn eyes narrowing at Asahi. 

"Well, yeah, but..." Asahi looked away from Suga. He'd been learning to drive the utility truck, since he'd be joining the company once he graduated. "I don't have my license yet." It was a weak attempt to change Sugawara's mind. At this point Asahi knew he wasn't going to budge on the matter, and he didn’t have the energy to fight a useless battle. 

Before Asahi could really even accept what they were about to do, Suga had ransacked his bedroom and shoved the newly packed bag against Asahi's chest. 

"Wait," Suga paused at Asahi's bedroom door, turning back around. Asahi narrowly avoided trampling the smaller teen. Sugawara ducked around him and opened the same window Asahi had earlier. 

"What are you doing?" Suga grinned over his shoulder at Asahi. 

"Sneaking out," he explained, as if that made any real sense to Asahi. Asahi jerked a thumb in the direction of the hallway. 

"Okay,” he said slowly, “but you technically snuck in through the front door." 

"Oh, come on." Suga was already halfway out the window. "That's no fun. Besides," he flashed another grin in Asahi's direction. "I've always wanted to do this." He punctuated his words by disappearing out the window. This wasn't part of the apocalist, but Suga figured he should take the opportunity while he had it. Asahi's eyes widened in horror and he thought his heart was going to stop. He heard a thud followed by a muffled grunt from outside. Before he could panic further Sugawara called up to him. "I'll meet you at the front." 

Sugawara at least knew it was unlikely for his anxious friend to follow his lead and jump out a window. He brushed himself off and walked around to the front where he waited for Asahi to emerge from the house. 

Asahi’s grip on the steering wheel was tight, knuckles turning white. He spared a quick side glance at Suga who had his legs pulled up on the seat as he wiggled around excitedly. His bright expression was illuminated by the streetlights as Asahi steered the car through the quiet neighborhood, towards their destination. 

“Suga, I’m really not sure this is a good idea.” Asahi’s voice caught a bit despite his attempt to keep it level. He didn’t have his license. He wasn’t really supposed to drive with his uncle, much less with another teenager. 

“You worry too much.” Suga brushed off the legalities of their current situation. “As long as you obey traffic laws and don’t crash no one is going to know.” Suga shifted in his seat so he could be at a three-quarter angle facing Asahi. “You look older, which will definitely work in our favor.” He winked, despite the fact Asahi couldn’t see it. He was too fixated on the road and keeping his anxiety under control. 

“Why did we have to leave in the middle of the night?” Suga was quiet for a long moment and Asahi wasn’t sure if he was going to answer. His own explanations beginning to swirl though his mind. _Oh, god, his mom doesn’t know we took the car. She’s going to kill us._

“I told mom that Daichi was coming with us, and that he had an older cousin that could drive if we borrowed her car.” 

“Daichi is the oldest in his family.” Asahi’s brows pulled together. He didn’t really know Daichi’s family, but he did know he only had a few younger cousins. 

“Mom doesn’t know that.” 

“Suga...” 

“It’s fine. Promise. As long as we’re careful she isn’t going to care… or know for that matter.” 

“Okay, but what about my parents?” 

“Uh,” Sugawara paused for a moment, biting his lip and looking away from Asahi’s profile. “Call them in the morning?” 

  
  


“Please don't ask me to do this ever again.” Asahi breathed, dropping his head onto the steering wheel. Sugawara was already unbuckled and reaching for the door handle. He paused, twisting to look at Asahi. One of his brows quirked upwards. 

“You know that you have to drive back, right?” Asahi groaned, picking his head up just enough to drop it back down again. He’d been so anxious for the whole drive, it was draining. 

“Spare me.” 

“Did you want me to drive?” Suga’s lips turned up on one side. 

“No,” Asahi’s head popped up and he looked at Sugawara with his eyes widened in horror. “I’ll do it.” 

“Great, but until then, we have three days to knock out as many items on the list as we can.” With that Sugawara opened the door and was walking around to the trunk of his mom’s car. Asahi blinked at the space Suga vacated. 

“Three days?” He scrambled to get his own seat belt off and followed suit exiting the vehicle. Sugawara was rifling through the bag he packed haphazardly for Asahi. “We’re staying here for three days?” 

“Did I not mention that earlier?” 

“Uh, no, you didn’t.” Asahi sucked in a deep breath; eyes closed. “Please tell me you’re not planning to sleep in the car.” Suga finally found what he was looking for and stopped digging around. He shoved whatever he’d taken from the bag against Asahi’s chest, causing him to grunt, before reaching into the truck once again to go through his own bag. 

“That would be miserable.” He looked at Asahi before pulling a sweater over his head and grabbing a blanket that had been folded in the trunk. “I booked a hotel, don’t worry. But for now, we’re sleeping under the stars.” Sugawara slammed the trunk shut before turning towards the moonlit beach. 

Asahi took one more breath and decided it wasn’t worth freaking out over things. Suga was excited and why shouldn’t he be too. He looked at the fabric Suga had thrust at him, it was a sweater. Asahi only then realized the slight chill in the night air coming off the water. He pulled it on and followed Sugawara. The drive itself had taken them just over an hour. It was nearing two in the morning. No one else was on the beach at this hour, only the two of them. 

Sugawara found a spot in the sand and laid out the blanket he'd been carrying. He settled himself on one half of it before looking up at Asahi expectantly. Asahi lowered himself beside Sugawara. Suga unceremoniously flopped back and tucked his arms behind his head. He sighed softly and gazed up into the indigo sky. Asahi quietly followed suit. Once he peered up into the sky he realized what they were doing. Star gazing. The stars shimmered brilliant overhead. 

They could have done this back home. Laid out in either of their yards, but Asahi acknowledged that there was something calming about to accompaniment of the gentle lapping of waves on the shore. 

Asahi lost track of how much time had passed, the sounds of the ocean lulling him to sleep as the stars shone above. 

~~_Stargaze_ ~~

~~_Sleep Under the Stars_ ~~

"Asahi, Asahi, wake up!" Asahi groaned, his body protesting. His eyes cracked open slightly to look at Sugawara, who was basically on top of him. "The sun is about to rise." 

"Great, let me sleep until it's done." Asahi grumbled, throwing an arm over his face. Suga pouted and pulled it off. 

"You have to watch it with me." 

“The sun rises every day.” Asahi went to roll over, but Sugawara moved faster, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him gently. 

“Please, Asahi, for me.” The pleading tone stuck Asahi right in the heart and he finally opened his eyes. Sugawara was leaning over top of him, the faint glow of the sun beginning to rise illuminating the horizon behind him. 

“Beautiful...” The word slipped past his lips before he could stop them, luckily, Suga didn’t seem to have heard him. 

~~_Watch the Sunrise_ ~~

After the sun came up Asahi and Suga spent a while just relaxing on the beach. Once a few others began to arrive to take advantage of the summer sun, they decided to go check into the hotel that Suga had booked for them. 

  


“I hope you don’t mind sharing,” Suga offered as they entered their room. Asahi was going to ask what that meant until he saw the single bed sitting in the center of the room. “It was cheaper than a double,” Suga admitted. 

“Oh, yeah,” Asahi dropped his bag on the foot of the bed. “I don’t mind.” Earlier, he’d offered to help pay for the room, but Sugawara refused. Asahi still felt weird about letting Suga foot the bill alone though. 

They took a minute to put their bags away before they wandered back out to the beachfront city. They decided to spend the day wandering around town, which is how they spent the remainder of the day before heading back to the hotel. 

  


After returning to their hotel room they just hung out before Sugawara announced he had an idea and would be back. Asahi pushed for answers and asked if he wanted Asahi to come with him, but Sugawara brushed him off and said he’d be back soon. Asahi didn’t feel he had much choice but to let Suga go do whatever he was going to do. 

It really didn’t take long before Suga returned. He was gone for maybe twenty minutes. The first thing Asahi noticed was the paper bag Sugawara was holding against his chest. It seemed that Sugawara could read the question in Asahi’s eyes. 

"Message in a bottle!" He explained, his eyes crinkling in a bright smile as he held up the bag. He tipped his head to the side, causing his hair to fall into his face a bit. "I want to let go, to free myself." 

Sugawara sat on the edge of the bed, placing the bag beside him. Glass clanked together from within it. Asahi wasn’t sure what he had expected, but it wasn’t for Suga to pull two bottles of beer from the bag. 

“Suga, how did you—” His question died off when he remembered the ID he had used when he got his tattoo. _Right._

“We need something to put the messages in.” 

“Did it need to be beer?” Asahi asked. 

“No, but remember that analogy Ukai had made when he first came on as coach?” Asahi huffed out a laugh. He vaguely recalled Ukai’s attempt to explain with a poorly crafted beer analogy. 

“Please tell me that isn’t your only reasoning.” Sugawara smiled. 

“I didn’t say you had to drink it. Pour it out if you want.” He stuck his tongue out at Asahi. “They were actually the only bottles I could find with lids we could put back on the bottle.” 

Sugawara and Asahi both ended up taking a quick swig from their bottles, quickly deciding that it wasn’t worth drinking. Sugawara was all for breaking the rules sometimes, but why bother when it tasted so terrible? They poured them out in the sink before rinsing them out setting them aside to dry for a bit. 

While their newly empty bottles dried, they sat down to write the actual messages to put inside the bottles. Asahi glanced over at Suga. His heart ached when he saw the tears pooling in Sugawara's eyes. His pen scratched over the surface of the paper, scribbling his message. Asahi's eyes shifted and he saw Daichi's name at the top of the page. It was addressed to Daichi. Asahi bit his lip and turned his eyes back to his own paper since Sugawara insisted he had to write one too. 

Asahi hadn't understood at first when Suga said this was about letting go, freeing himself. He was letting go of Daichi. Letting go of the piece of his heart that belonged to Daichi. Asahi sucked in a shallow breath, finally putting his pen to the paper. 

_Dear Sugawara..._

Armed with their newly written messages, coiled and stuffed inside their bottles and recapped tightly, they left their hotel room. The walk to the nearest shoreline was nice. The sun was going down and with it the stifling heat. 

“What exactly is the plan here?” Asahi asked, rolling the bottle between his palms. 

“We send them out to sea.” Sugawara looked at his bottle for a long moment before he pulled back his arm and lobbed it out into the open water. Asahi watched it soar through the air until it splashed into the waves. Asahi wondered if they would actually go somewhere, or just end up back on his beach once the tide pulled them in, but that clearly wasn’t the point. He drew back his own arm and let his message fly. 

_~~Send a Message in a Bottle~~ _

Sugawara looked at Asahi. Asahi instantly knew that that look meant. He was about to do something ridiculous. _Again_. A laugh bubbled out of Sugawara before he took off running. Asahi blinked, watching his friend dash straight into the ocean, fully clothed. He plunged under the water once he reached a deep enough spot. When he popped back up, he was soggy. His clothes clung to his thin frame and the lights of the city caused the beads of water in his hair to shimmer. 

Asahi swallowed thickly. He knew exactly what Suga was going to say. He decided to cut his losses and just do it. He was never going to win against Sugawara. This wasn’t going to be anything new. He’d already been yanked into the water fully clothed in the middle of the night once this summer, he could do it again. 

He took it slower than Sugawara had, the water was freezing and now that the sun had gone down the night air also had a chill to it. He shivered as he wadded out towards Suga. 

“Asahi!” Suga chirped, throwing his arms around Asahi’s shoulders, pressing his freezing, soaked body against him. Asahi yelped, trying to push his friend off. “I didn’t even have to force you! We’re making progress.” Asahi rolled his eyes, still trying to get Sugawara off of him. 

“Just picking my battles.” Sugawara laughed at his, managing to shift his weight in a way that knocked Asahi off his feet, causing them both to fall into the water. This time, thankfully, Asahi didn’t inhale a bunch of it. When they came back up Sugawara was laughing. Asahi tried to scowl, but he also ended up dissolving into laughter. This really was ridiculous. 

The pair stayed out in the water for maybe a half hour. Eventually, they drug themselves out of the water and found their shoes where they’d left them on the beach. They didn’t have towels, because of course they didn’t. The came out here armed with just beer bottles stuffed with their messages. The walk back to their hotel was only a few blocks, but they’d gotten themselves more than enough confused and disapproving looks. They were soggy teenage boys after all. It probably looked just as strange as Asahi imagined it did. 

~~_Swim with Clothes On_ ~~  


Asahi scratched his cheek. He was fresh out of the shower and Sugawara was already fast asleep. He was curled up on his side facing the inside of the bed. Asahi eased his way under the blanket, trying not to wake up Suga in the process. At first, he was facing Sugawara, but there was no way he was going to be able to sleep like that. Sugawara’s face was so serine and gentle. Nope, he couldn’t go there. He rolled over and faced the wall. He didn’t think it would be an issue to share a bed, but suddenly he was having second thoughts. This was bad for his heart. 

Sugawara giggled, sticking out his now blue tongue. Asahi felt the heat crawl up his neck, he just hoped that Suga didn’t notice. They were sitting on a stone wall that overlooked the beach, shaved ice in hand. Asahi poked at his with the little plastic spoon. 

“Can you believe we’re actually here?” 

“Yes, what I can’t believe is that you made me drive here.” Asahi quipped with less heat and more disbelief. “We could have taken the train, you know?” 

“Yeah, but where is the fun in that?” Suga winked, his blue tongue poking out again. 

“It would be significantly less stressful.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Suga conceded, but he didn’t regret their drive up. They’d had a conversation similar to this already while they explored town last night. 

~~_Eat Shaved Ice_ ~~

Crumpling up the paper cone that had held his shaved ice, Sugawara hopped off the wall. Rocking back on his heels he tipped his head toward the ocean. 

“Want to go for a swim?” 

“We swam last night,” Asahi pointed out. Suga quirked a brow at him causing Asahi to laugh. “Fine, want me to throw that away for you?” Asahi jumped off the wall, opening his hand for the trash. Sugawara handed it over despite following Asahi to the trash can anyway. 

With their trash taken care of Sugawara took off running towards the water, Asahi shook his head and with a sigh and a soft smile he ran after Suga. 

  
_~~Swim in the Ocean~~_

Sugawara was staring back towards the beach; Asahi wasn’t sure what it was he was looking at though. When Suga finally pulled his gaze from the shore he had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. 

"Hey, Asahi, wanna get in some practice?" 

"What?" Asahi asked as he closed the space between them, the lively water lapping against their skin. Sugawara jerked his head on the direction of the beach, where there was a group of guys around a net. A volleyball net. 

"Think they'd let us play?" 

"They've already got four players." Beach volleyball was different than indoor, only two players on each side. 

"Hm, still worth a shot, yeah?" Asahi was apprehensive about asking them. They appeared to be older, college students maybe, definitely foreigners, but Suga wasn't one to be deterred. 

The pair trudged out of the waves and Sugawara smiled brightly as they approached the quartet. Asahi watched the ball as the strangers moved through the sand to keep it in play. One side spiked it and a tall blonde dove for it. He didn’t make it, and the ball fell into the sand near Sugawara's bare feet. The blonde looked up at him from his position on the ground. 

"Hello!" Sugawara started. 

The guys were more than happy to let Suga and Asahi join them, though they split them up. Sugawara smirked from his side of the net at Asahi, who looked nervously at his teammates. 

Sugawara was on the side with the blonde and willowy guy with long black hair. Asahi was teamed with a redhead with an undercut and a guy with black hair that was pulled back from his face with a headband. He had similar features to the long-haired guy on Sugawara’s side, he vaguely wondered if they were related. 

  
It was Asahi's serve. He figured it was as good a time as any to practice his jump servers, though not at full power. Suga moved to receive it, sending it into the air for his teammates to make the final hits. Suga lost his balance on the sand, falling back into it from the force of the serve and his poor footing in the sand. 

The blonde made a clean spike off a set from his friend and scored before going to offer a hand to Sugawara. Suga accepted it and let him pull him back up to his feet. Asahi's eyes lingered on their hands, which stayed together longer than necessary once Suga was standing once again. 

“You’ve got a killer serve,” Asahi’s redheaded teammate complimented. 

“Oh,” he pulled his focus off of Sugawara and the blonde. “Thanks, I’ve been working on it.” For some reason this appeared to surprise the redhead. 

“Think your buddy is okay?” He asked, glancing over to the other side of the net. 

“He’s received worse.” Asahi wasn't thinking much about his comment, but he had Ushijima in mind when he said it. Ushijima had monster serves and Sugawara had unfortunately been on the receiving end of it. 

Asahi took his place at the line to serve once again. He tried to keep his head clear and not overdo it, but no such luck. He served, slamming it down to the other side. Suga’s dark haired teammate tried to receive it, but he couldn’t control it. The ball connected with his forearms then with his chest. He grunted, a red spot instantly blooming on his pale chest where he got nailed. 

“Are you okay?” Suga asked, he placed a hand on his arm. He knew how hard Asahi’s serves could be, it never felt good to take one of those to the body. They were harsh to receive correctly as it was. 

  


They played two sets, both won by Asahi's side, though he had a suspicion that Sugawara's side would have won if the blonde wouldn't have been "accidentally" bumping into Suga. Asahi had grown more and more irritated by this display and had started actively trying to send his serves to the source of his irritation. 

Asahi didn’t realize he was making a face until Sugawara walked over to him, eyes wide and concerned. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, why would you think something is wrong?” Asahi asked, looking down at Sugawara. 

“Because you look like you want to kill somebody?” Suga said tentatively. Sugawara would expect Asahi to look nervous if anything, not mad. 

“Oh,” Asahi pulled his eyes off of Suga and focused on the blonde, who was watching them. His friends were talking, but his eyes were locked on Asahi. He looked like he was challenging Asahi. It reminded him of Aone from Date Tech in a way. Breaking their eye contact, the blonde changed his focus to Sugawara, his eyes seeming to trail over Suga’s body sending another wave of irritation through Asahi. 

“Asahi?” Suga’s brows shot up, sensing the shift and tension in Asahi. 

“Nothing,” he said again, he attempted to smile at Sugawara, but the look on Suga’s face told him that he failed miserably. Suga wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by the guys. 

"You guys want to join us for dinner?" The redhead asked. 

"Our treat," the blonde added with a wink. 

"No—" Asahi started at the same time Sugawara said "Sure, we'd love to." 

~~_Play Beach Volleyball_ ~~

Dinner went about as well as Asahi expected. The blonde continued to get on Asahi’s nerves and made sure to sit as humanly possible to Sugawara. Somewhere along the line, Asahi snapped and actually began to make snide and somewhat hostile remarks. Sugawara kept giving him a mix of concerned and disapproving looks. Needless to say, it was more than a bit awkward. 

Asahi finally drew the line at the blonde asking for Sugawara’s number as they began to part ways. He cut them off and grabbed Suga’s forearm and practically drug him away. 

“What the hell, Asahi?” Suga yanked his arm away. “What has gotten into you?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Nothing? Yeah, that definitely seemed like nothing.” 

  


Asahi sighed, not ready to begin the drive home. He would never be ready, but he didn’t have a choice. This time, however, they were driving during the day which made it somehow even scarier. Maybe due to there being more cars on the road this time. 

Sugawara glanced at Asahi from the corner of his eye. The car ride so far had been suffocating quiet, and it had only been ten minutes. He shouldn’t take this. Asahi’s eyes came off the road for a brief second to see what Suga was doing when he moved to dig around in the glove box. 

Once Suga located what he was looking for he produced a small black binder that seemed to house CDs. He flipped through for a moment before a bright smile crossed his face. He pulled out the disk and fed it into the car’s CD player. 

“Suga—” Asahi wasn’t sure about the distraction of music, but he was silenced by the start of a song, which he immediately recognized. Of course, Sugawara would. It was a Disney song, and Sugawara seemed quite satisfied by this. “You didn’t have enough Disney already this summer?” Asahi asked, only slightly surprised that Sugawara would have this kind of CD on hand. 

“Definitely not.” Suga winked and jumped into singing along with the disk. Honestly, Asahi had not expected Sugawara to have as nice a voice as he did. It calmed him down. Where he thought music would be an added layer of anxiety about this drive turned out to ease a lot of those nerves. It was nice. He liked hearing Sugawara’s voice. 

As one song ended, and another began, it became clear that the CD Suga had chosen was one he must have burned himself because it was more than just Disney music. It was an odd combination of songs, but clearly Sugawara liked them because he knew every word. 

  


The drive passed with a few CD changes and before they knew it, Asahi was pulling into the drive of Suga’s family home. Suddenly, he wished that their trip wasn’t over or that they had just a few more minutes together. 

“Well,” Sugawara clapped his hands together as Asahi cut the engine. “Thanks for driving, Asahi.” _Why did this feel so awkward_? Sugawara smiled tightly before getting out of the car. Just like before, Asahi followed suit and they met at the trunk. Sugawara grabbed Asahi’s bag and handed it over before scooping up his own stuff. “See you later?” 

“Um, yeah, see you…” Asahi gave Sugawara the keys and watched him walk away, disappearing into the house. Asahi’s brows drew together in confusion. He had no idea what just happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun little note: the car ride back was inspired by Miyu Irino's version of Under The Sea ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttvt4thfcbw


	5. Chapter 5

Sugawara was sitting in bed, hugging a pillow against his chest. He was currently ignoring the texts he'd gotten from various classmates and teammates. He wanted to text Asahi, but he was also beginning to worry about how Asahi felt about him dragging him along all summer. 

Something changed on their trip. Sugawara wasn’t quite sure when the change happened, but it was there. It was almost as if Asahi was trying to build a wall between them, or was Suga building the wall? He wasn't even sure anymore. All he knew was that he had fallen for yet another one of his best friends and that it would only lead to him getting hurt... again. 

He sighed and flopped down into the surface of his mattress. He completed nearly everything on his list. There were only three items left. School was starting back soon, and he only had one chance to complete two of his final three and it was in a week. Was a week too soon to force Asahi into yet another thing he likely didn’t want any part of? Conveniently, this also happened to be the one full week off of practice that they had, primarily for people like Tanaka and Noya who left all their summer assignments until the last minute. 

At least the sunburn he’d gotten during their trip was beginning to shift into a tan. Small victories he supposed. 

~~_Get a Tan_ ~~

Asahi sat on the floor, rolling a grimy old volleyball back and forth. His phone was silent. He was itching to talk to Suga. Dread was bubbling under his skin. They hadn't talked since the trip. Asahi had a sinking feeling it had to do with the way he'd behaved towards the college students Sugawara had befriended on the beach. Asahi never realized he could be the jealous type, unfortunately, it seemed he could be. And it just happened to come out at the worst time. 

He shook his head slightly, pulling himself up off the floor. He could just man up and text Suga himself, but he didn’t want to push it. If Sugawara was upset or mad at him it was probably best to take a break, or should he apologize? He didn’t know anymore. 

  


************************************************************************************* 

Sugawara frowned at his reflection; he readjusted his obi for the hundredth time. As if the obi was the problem. He decided not to buy a new yukata this year, the one he wore the last two years still fit after all, but it just felt plain. Maybe he should have gotten something a little flashier, but this year wasn't any different than it has been before. His mom would be suspicious if he suddenly decided he needed a flashy yukata. 

The base color was a warm shade of cream, but it had thin stripes in alternating burgundy and gray. The gray complimented the muted tone of his hair at least, and he likes that his obi was a bright pop of the rich burgundy color. It was fine. Besides, Asahi had said he didn't even own a yukata. He was probably just going to be in jeans and a t-shirt. It wasn't like this was a date or anything, though Sugawara was starting to wish it could be. 

Taking a few more moments in the mirror to fuss with his hair, trying in vain to get his unruly cowlick to lay flat. Sucking in a breath, he gave up and left the house. But not before his mom stopped him and gushed about how cute he looked. 

He was leaving a bit early, but he figured it was fine. He could just browse nearby stalls while he waited for Asahi to show up. Sugawara approached the area he and Asahi had established as the meeting place. 

“Asahi?” Sugawara was surprised to see Asahi already there. He was early as it was. He was also surprised that Asahi was also dressed in a yukata. Asahi turned around, a sheepish smile on his face. “I thought you didn’t have a yukata?” 

“I borrowed my dad’s,” Asahi admitted, he shrugged. “You said you were going to wear one so…” Sugawara smiled softly. 

“It looks nice on you.” It wasn’t a lie. The darker tones suited Asahi. He looked very mature and it made Sugawara wish even more so that this was actually a date. 

“You look good, too,” Asahi’s smile gave away that he was still nervous. 

  


~~_Wear a Yukata_ ~~

  


They walked around just taking in the various stalls. They grabbed some food that they could eat while walking around and just chatted. It was a bit awkward at first, having spent time apart after their overnight trip, but they eventually hit their stride once again. They lost track of time. They were just walking around and talking, pausing every once in a while to look at something. It was just easy. They had each been worried that it would be strained between them now, but it seemed that they were worried over nothing. 

  


Someone bumped into Suga, causing him to stumble and roll his ankle. He tripped, catching himself so he didn’t fall completely flat on his face. Asahi crouched down beside him immediately. 

“Are you okay?” He offered a hand to Suga. Sugawara looked out on the crowd of people milling about, not sure who he’d even collided with. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Suga accepted the outstretched hand, letting Asahi pull him back up. He winced slightly. Asahi clicked his tongue while Suga reached down to retrieve his sandal, which he apparently managed to break in his little stumble. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Asahi asked wearily. Suga gave him a little smile. 

“Yes,” he assured him. Taking one step, Sugawara sucked in a breath and rectified his answer. “No.” 

Asahi was mumbling about people being careless as he helped Suga to a nearby bench. Sugawara insisted that it was fine, he just rolled it, nothing serious. 

“I’ll be right back.” Sugawara didn’t get the chance to ask where Asahi was going before he disappeared into the sea of people. Suga sighed, toying with the broken straps of his sandal. 

"Suga?" Daichi, with Michimiya on his arm, stood a short distance from the bench. His eyes were tinted with concern. 

"Hey, Daichi," Suga offered, his smile tight. He imagined he looked pathetic right now. 

"Hey," Daichi's eyes wandered a bit before landing back on Sugawara. "Are you here alone?" Michimiya made a face that kind of amused Sugawara. 

"No, I--" 

"I told you he was on a date." Michimiya scolded lightly, eyes fixed on Daichi. Even when she was trying to sound annoyed with him her eyes reflected how infatuated she was with him. 

"Oh, um," Suga's eyes fixed on the ground. 

"So, who is she?" Daichi asked lightly, seeming genuinely curious. 

“I’ve been curious all summer,” Michimiya chirped excitedly. “You’ve posted a lot of pictures but never of who you’re with.” Sugawara felt his cheek heat. His mouth opened, but he wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Suga—” 

“Asahi?” Michimiya’s eyes were wide, mouth open in surprise. 

“Hey, Asahi, are you on a date, too?” Her eyes quickly darted to Suga’s blushing face and her elbow dug into Daichi’s side. Daichi quirked a brow at her before realizing that his friends were now staring at one another, faces bright red. “Um, we’re going to—” he glanced between them again then back at Michimiya who nodded slightly, “We’re going to go…” 

The pair continued to stare at each other for a long moment. Asahi finally moved, sitting beside Sugawara stiffly. 

“That was—” 

“Awkward,” Suga completed the thought. 

“Is this— Was this a date?” Asahi finally asked, thinking about what Daichi had said. 

“I didn’t—” Sugawara focused on his sandal. “I don’t know. Do you want it to be?” Asahi didn’t respond. He watched Sugawara’s body language and profile before handing Sugawara the drink he’d gone to retrieve. It was a chilled can. Asahi figured it would be an acceptable substitute for ice for the time being. 

  
  


“I can walk, Asahi.” Suga said softly, his arms wrapped around Asahi’s broad shoulders. Asahi jostled Suga, readjusting him on his back. “Asahi,” Suga whined. 

“No.” 

“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?” Asahi huffed a sarcastic laugh. 

“Just like you’ve told me everything we’ve done this summer?” 

“You can’t use my own game against me,” Suga accused, a light laugh in his voice. 

“I can, and I am.” 

“Fine,” Suga conceded, leaning into Asahi while he carried him away from the festival and up a flight of stairs. Suga was genuinely worried about being a bit too heavy for this, he wasn’t particularly small. Compared to the guys on the volleyball team sure, but he was pretty average. Asahi didn’t seem to be struggling though. 

  


The pair stood at the railing, overlooking the bright lights of the festival and the people milling about. The summer was coming to an end. Classes start back tomorrow. And before they know it, they'll graduate and go their separate ways. 

"Suga?" Asahi broke the silence between them, a hint of hesitation in his voice. Sugawara turned, looking up at Asahi's profile. "Thank you." Sugawara's brows furrowed slightly. 

"For what?" Asahi finally turned to meet Suga's eyes. He was smiling softly. 

"Dragging me along for your summer bucket list," he chuckled softly, "sorry, apocalist." He corrected. 

"Oh," Sugawara said softly, tipping his head slightly. "It would have been lonely to do it alone," he admitted. Asahi's eyes were taking in Sugawara's features and the timid expression he was wearing. Before Asahi even realized what he was doing, his fingers found a lock of Suga's hair that had fallen into his face and pushed it gently away. 

"I know," he whispered softly, the gap between them beginning to close. The hand Asahi had used to brush away Suga's hair shifted slightly down to cup his cheek. "I'm just glad you chose me." Asahi's lips found Sugawara's. For a brief second Suga went still, eyes wide, but he quickly melted into the gentle kiss. His eyes fluttered shut and his own hands found Asahi's firm chest as he leaned into the embrace. 

There was a loud bang and the sky lit up brilliantly. Reluctantly, Sugawara and Asahi broke apart. Their eyes stayed locked on one another's for a long while, more fireworks bursting in the night sky. Finally, Sugawara grinned and turned away to watch the fireworks. Asahi followed suit, a little uncertain about what this meant for their friendship, but he got his answer when Sugawara's hand found his and their fingers laced together. 

  


**_Before Summer Ends:_ **

~~_Go to an Arcade_~~

~~_Eat Watermelon_~~

~~_Watch the Sunset_ ~~

~~_Jump off a Pier/Dock_ ~~

~~_Skinny Dipping_~~

~~_Learn to Bake Something New_~~

~~_Have a Picnic_ ~~

~~_Eat Ice Cream_ ~~

~~_Go to an Amusement Park_ ~~

~~_Get a Tattoo_~~

~~_Build a Pillow Fort_~~

~~_Movie Marathon_~~

~~_Light Sparklers_ ~~

~~_Go on an Overnight Trip_ ~~

~~_Stargaze_ ~~

~~_Sleep Under the Stars_ ~~

~~_Watch the Sunrise_ ~~

~~_Send a Message in a Bottle_~~

~~_Swim with Clothes On_ ~~

~~_Eat Shaved Ice_~~

~~_Swim in the Ocean_~~

~~_Play Beach Volleyball_~~

~~_Get a Tan_~~

~~_Wear a Yukata_ ~~

~~_Watch Fireworks_ ~~

~~_First Kiss_~~

**Author's Note:**

> Please check out the amazing art that vy created to go along with this fic! You can find it on both Twitter and Tumblr~  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/whaleshakeu/status/1247698189899071488?s=20  
> Tumblr: https://whaleshakes.tumblr.com/post/614790341672026112/my-piece-for-the-hqrarepairbang-in-collaboration


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